Dead Rising 2 looks to be in good hands with Blue Castle Games

I was worried that Dead Rising 2 would fall short of the first one. I always expect this when the original developer hand the reins to an unproven studio. Going from a Keiji Inafune-led internal team to Blue Castle Games didn’t spur much confidence. The last titles Blue Castle put out were, in order, MLB Front Office Manager and The Bigs 2.

Although I’m a sports fan, those releases don’t scream AAA quality to me. That’s why it was important that I had a chance to play through some of the beginning of Dead Rising 2 at E3 this year. Over the course of an hour, I figured out the premise. Chuck Greene, a former motorcross champion, has been drawn to Fortune City to compete in game show called “Terror is Reality.”

From what I surmised and this is connecting the dots in the build I was playing, the TV program uses zombies as part of its act. Yes, it seems as though, after the Willamette oubreak, the United States has not only learned to live with the undead, but it has figured out how to exploit them. Because of this, there are protesters for CURE, which is also known as Citizens for Undead Rights & Equality, and it’s under this backdrop that Chuck is framed.

Apparently, Chuck performed on the show in his normal capacity as a motorcross rider. He needed money to help his daughter, who was infected with the zombie virus and needs a certain medicine to keep her from turning. After doing the show, there’s an outbreak. The zombies from the show get loose and turns Fortune City into a living hell. With his daughter and an ally, Stacey, in a safe house, he stares at the TV monitor and sees a reporter showing footage of him blasting said zombie cage.

Of course, this is all wrong. He’s being set up, and Chuck has 72 hours to clear his name before the military comes in and flattens the city (something I assume would be standard operating procedure by now). The first thing I did was set off on a mission to find the reporter, Rebecca Chang, who was staying all the way across town in another hotel.

Stepping out, I realized just how much bigger this new game would be. If Dead Rising was in a Willamete Mall, then Dead Rising 2 expands that to an entire area designed to look like the Vegas Strip. There’s going to be a lot of ground to cover, and it’s not all going to be indoors.

Outside, Chuck will get some help with some Combo Cards. Dead Rising 2 lets players carry multiple items and they can take it into a workshop bench where they can combine them and create more power weapons of destruction. The first combo item I created was a baseball bat spiked with nails. It was quite effective while it lasted and even booted my experience points. Like in the previous title, weapons don’t have a unlimited lifespan. They eventually run out, and when they do it’s best to have another weapon as backup.

Stacey, the friend in the safe house looking after Chuck’s kid, acts as the new Otto. She’s not as annoying as her Willamete counterpart, but she does pop up every so often with updates. Lastly, during the game, players can look at Chuck’s watch and look for other missions and see how much time is left. Be warned though, this doesn’t stop the game. Zombies can still eat players while they check the time. It’s something that I had to get used to as I waded through the miles of zombies.

Eventually, I reached the hotel where Rebecca Chang was staying, and after some negotiations, she offered to take me to the security office where she got the tape in exchange for an exclusive interview. This part of the game with the important missions was a little more freestyle. I could wander around a bit, kill a few zombies and save my game in the bathroom. Yes, it appears that much-complained-about system is back.

But at any time, I can go back to Rebecca and continue the vital mission. Anyway, this time around, I don’t feel like I had to baby-sit my partners. I don’t have to move forward and go all the way back to save someone. Rebecca proved quite capable of shooting zombies in high heels, and once in a while during our trip, I did cross bystanders who need help.

But just going up to them and talking isn’t good enough. Sometimes they require something. After going to the security room with Rebecca and finding nothing of value, I headed out and ran into Doris, a woman with a Southern twang who wouldn’t leave without her husband Chad. So I had to kill more zombies. I found out that fireworks distract them and ran headlong into the throngs of undead. Eventually, I ran into a Texan in a 10-gallon hat and blasting zombies with a shotgun. That must be him.

I talked with him and said something like, “Yo man, I know where your girl is. Why don’t we go there together, so she can see you and be happy. You don’t have to die here and we can go to the safehouse.” Suffice to say, he agreed. I could even trade weapons with him, which was a relief. Chad did pretty well with a two-by-four. We met up, and we were on our way, but that’s as far as I got because during my way back, a zombie took a bite out of me, and despite leveling up and fighting them off, I died.

Aside from a few tweaks with the Combo Cards, level requirements to drive bikes and the larger environments, I’m relieved to find out that Blue Castle did a seemingly great job making Dead Rising 2 feel like the original. Despite its flaws, I loved the first one, and the freestyle, over-the-top zombie killing still persists in the game. And to figure what happens next, I suppose I’ll have to buy the game when it comes out Aug. 31.